Electronic systems and methods for the assessment of emotional state

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to an electronic system for the assessment of emotional state. The system allows individual employees to specify their emotions using a set of emojis. The system provides a graphical user interface that displays a list of different emotions and associated emojis that the user can select. The system allows the user to write an entry about his thoughts and emotions in conjunction with the selected emojis and send the message with the emojis to individuals with whom he chooses to share. The system provides a list of company-wide employees from which the user can select. The system receives the messages and implements data structures to process the received messages and produce individual and company-wide emotional state information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/862,114, filed Apr. 29, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application 62/841,180, filed Apr. 30, 2019, the entirety ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to the field of humanresources technology, including emotional state assessment systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Employee engagement is a property of the relationship between theorganization and its employees. Employee engagement plays a vital rolein the overall development of an organization by significantlycontributing towards organizational and individual performances. Thereare techniques available in the art for determining employee engagement.One technique determines employee engagement by detecting the emotionalstate of a user. Some existing systems for detecting emotional stateinvolve audio or video devices, sensors capable of sensing biometricdata, and complex hardware that is specifically implemented to interactwith those sensors and analyze the data obtained by those sensors. Thedevices and sensors, however, are usually installed on the employee'sdesk and are not portable to be carried with the employee. As such, theemployee's emotions outside his office or cubicle cannot be captured, asthese systems require the person to be physically present at his desk.For example, an employee's emotion during or after a meeting held in aconference room or a different location cannot be detected. The employeemay return to his office to convey his emotion and have his emotionrecorded, but the delay may cause him to recollect the event andcommunicate his thoughts imprecisely. The devices, sensors, and analysishardware also occupy office space and are expensive to purchase andmaintain. Therefore, companies with smaller real estate space andbudgets may not be able to afford such solutions.

Some other existing systems for detecting emotional state involvereceiving opinions on a business process. The systems receiveindications of the emotional states of users interacting with thebusiness process and identify problems of the business process based onthe received indication of the emotional states of the users. Thesystems may include a mobile application or messaging app designed toreceive such communication. Such messaging apps, however, fail toadequately and accurately express the user's emotion, mood, or feeling.The business process to which the message is directed may shift theindividual to comment on the business process itself, rather than hisemotion. For example, the user may type “partner A and associates B andC were discussing issue E with client F. While partner A was talking toclient F, associate B appeared to be nervous and associate C appeared tobe sad. Associate B should have been more relaxed and associate C shouldhave been happier.” This comment provides suggestions to the associates,not the user's emotions. In systems where semantics technology isemployed, there may be difficulty in determining who was nervous, whowas sad, whether words such as “relaxed” and “happier” refer to emotionsoccurring in the meeting or suggested by the user, and whether theconveyed emotions are referring to the user's emotions or others'emotions.

The messaging apps may also allow the user to select an expression iconand incorporate the icon into the message itself (e.g., the icon can beinserted after a sentence or between two sentences). This feature,however, is optional and the user can type a message without using anyicons. As such, the individual's emotion may not be known. Insertingicons into the message may also raise ambiguity, as the icons may notnecessary be tied to the user's emotion. For instance, continuing withthe example above, the user may insert an icon representing associateB's nervousness after the word “nervous” and an icon representingassociate C's sadness after the word “sad.” Using icons in thissituation still does not resolve the problems discussed earlier, as theydo not reflect the user's emotion. In short, current messaging apps donot provide a way to easily and directly capture a user's emotion thatis free of ambiguity.

Additionally, there is very little focus on improving a system or aremote system that works with the messaging apps. Conventional messagingapps emphasize on the user interface appears on the mobile device. Theindividual can select an expression icon from and type a message in theuser interface. There is no known technology that links “emoji” (emotionicon) selection on a message app to the emojis stored on the systembehind the app for data aggregation purposes and that determines who hasaccess to the message and the selected emojis. There is no knowntechnology that implements particular data structures for thosepurposes.

Accordingly, there remains a need for HR technology related to emotionalstate assessment systems that is improved over the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with principles of the invention, a system for assessmentof emotional state is contemplated. The system comprises a mobile devicewith an emotion journaling application installed. The emotion journalingapplication configures the mobile device to communicate with an employeedatabase storing a list of employee names of an enterprise and obtainthe list of employee names. The emotion journaling application alsoconfigures the mobile device to provide a user interface configured toallow creation of an electronic message. The user interface isconfigured to allow selection of a message recipient from the list ofemployee names; provide a list of emotion graphical representations; andan option to create an emotion graphical representation and add thecreated representation to the list of emotion graphical representations.The created representation on the list is available for selection on themobile device with the emotion journaling application and on othermobile devices with emotion journaling applications.

The user interface is also configured to allow selection of one or moreemotion graphical representations or an odd number of emotion graphicalrepresentations greater than three from the list of emotion graphicalrepresentations; provide a text area allowing a user of the mobiledevice to input an entry in his own words; make an electronic messagetransmittable to an electronic message processing system or the selectedrecipient when at least one message recipient has been selected, threeemotion graphical representations have been selected, and a text entryhas been inputted, and make an electronic message available to theselected recipient. The selected recipient can access the electronicmessage through an emotion journaling application on his mobile device.

The user interface is further configured present individual, group-wide,and company-wide emotional state information over a period of time basedon messages created through the user interface (or the three selectionsof emotion graphical representations in the messages) and messagescreated through user interfaces of the other mobile devices with theemotion journaling application (or the three selections of emotiongraphical representations in the messages).

The system also comprises an electronic message processing systemconfigured to receive messages created through the user interface andmessages created through the user interfaces of the other mobile deviceswith the emotion journaling application. The electronic messageprocessing system comprises a post data structure configured to conveyinformation in the created message and an emotion icon data structureconfigured to convey emotion icon-related information (e.g., emotionnames and emotion graphical representations). The electronic messageprocessing system also comprises a post and emotion mapping datastructure configured to convey emotional state information basedinformation in the post-data structure and information in theemotion-icon data structure. The emotional state information iscommunicated to the mobile device and used by the emotion journalingapplication to present individual, group-wide, and company-wideemotional state information over a period of time. The electronicmessage processing system further comprises a post-access data structureconfigured to make the electronic message available to the selectedrecipients based on information in the post-data structure. Thepost-access data structure is used by recipient's emotion journalingapplication to make the electronic message available to the selectedrecipient.

In accordance with principles of the invention, another system forassessment of emotional state is contemplated. The system comprises amobile device with an emotion journaling application installed. Theemotion journaling application configures the mobile device to provide auser interface configured to allow creation of an electronic message.The user interface is configured to allow selection of a messagerecipient from a list of employee names of an enterprise; provide a listof emotion graphical representations; allow selection of one or moreemotion graphical representations; provide a text area allowing user ofthe mobile device input an entry in his own words; make an electronicmessage transmittable to an electronic message processing system or theselected recipient when at least one message recipient has beenselected, three emotion graphical representations have been selected,and a text entry has been inputted; make an electronic message availableto the selected recipient who can access the electronic message throughan emotion journaling application on his mobile device; and presentindividual, group-wide, and company-wide emotional state informationover a period of time that includes the three selections of emotiongraphical representations in the messages.

The system also comprises an electronic message processing systemconfigured to receive messages created through the user interface. Theelectronic message processing system comprises a post and emotionmapping data structure configured to convey emotional state informationbased on information in a database storing electronic messages createdthrough the user interface and information in a database storing emotionicons. The emotional state information is communicated to the mobiledevice and used by the emotion journaling application to presentindividual, group-wide, and company-wide emotional state informationover a period of time. The electronic message processing system alsocomprises a post access data structure configured to make the electronicmessage available to the selected recipients based on information in thedatabase storing electronic messages created through the user interface.The post access data structure is used by recipient's emotion journalingapplication to make the electronic message available to the selectedrecipient.

The emotion graphical representations include a group of positiveemotion graphical representations and a group of negative emotiongraphical representations, wherein each representation in the positivegroup is associated with a positive numerical value and eachrepresentation in the negative group is associated with an equivalentnegative numerical value.

Counterpart method and non-transitory computer-readable mediumembodiments would be understood from the above and the overalldisclosure. Computer-readable medium may be permanent or semi-permanentmemory such as hard drive, floppy drive, optical disk, flash memory,ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc., as would be known to those of ordinary skillin the art. Computer-readable medium stores computer instructionsexecutable by a microprocessor, and execution of the instructions causesthe microprocessor to perform the steps or functions described in thisdisclosure. Also, broader, narrower, or different combinations of thedescribed features are contemplated, such that, for example, featurescan be removed or added in a broader or narrower way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various features of examples in accordance with the principles describedherein may be more readily understood with reference to the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, where like reference numerals designate like structuralelements, and in which.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative system for the assessment of emotionalstate in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 a-2 c depict illustrative login screens of the emotionjournaling software application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 3 a-3 d depict an illustrative message creating screen of theemotion journaling software application and illustrative screens of theassociated lists and options in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4 a-4 c depict illustrative message viewing screens of the emotionjournaling software in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 5 a-5 b depict an illustrative message created on the emotionjournaling application and an illustrative email version of the messagein accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 a depicts an illustrative historical emotional state informationscreen of the emotion journaling software in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 b depicts an illustrative screen of the emotion journalingapplication showing other information that can be stored and tracked bythe electronic message processing system in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention,

FIG. 7 depicts other illustrative information that can be tracked andcommunicated by the electronic message processing system and the emotionjournaling application in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative implementation of the electronic messageprocessing system in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an electronicsystem for the assessment of emotional state of employees in a company.The company implements the system and provides an app that individualemployees can use to specify their emotions using a set of graphicalrepresentations (e.g., emojis). The app provides a graphical userinterface that displays a list of different emotions and associatedemojis that the user can select. Employees are required to selectmultiple emojis, and they can, for example, select the same emoji threetimes. The app may require the user to select an odd number of emojis asa way to prevent the user from giving a neutral report (e.g., one happyand one sad emotion, resulting in a neutral). The user writes an entryabout his thoughts and emotions in conjunction with the selected emojisand sends the message with the emojis to one or more individuals withwhom he chooses to share. The individual can be his mentor or acolleague. The app provides a list of company-wide employees from whichthe user can select. The app also generates an email version of themessage and sends it to the recipient, and conversation can be pursuedbased on email communications.

The emotions are also stored and made available to the supervisor of theindividual's department or a leader of the organization (e.g., CEO). Thewritten information is not shared with that person and is keptconfidential. The emotions are provided to that person as an aggregatedset of the people in that department or the organization withoutindicating the identities of those who provided the emotional input.Historical information can be stored and presented in a graphical formto help understand the sense of the individual, group, or company-wideemotional state over time.

The user can also view the historical information about his input intothe app, but the app may be configured to condition such access on theuser having created and sent a certain number of messages during aparticular time period (e.g., 30 days). This and other features providea gamification experience that can motivate employee participation andengagement with the app.

The app is configured to indirectly develop and train an individual tobe a better decision maker. The app uses the concept that a person'sdecision making follows his emotions. Being self-aware and practicingbeing in touch with his emotions such as twice a week at the minimumwill make the individual a better decision maker. When individuals areaware of their own emotions and their closest team member emotions, theteam performs better.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative system 100 for the assessment ofemotional state. The system 100 comprises an electronic device 1 with anemotion journaling software application (the “emotion journalingapplication” or simply, the “application”) that configures the device togenerate an electronic message, an electronic message processing system110, an employee database 115 configured to store employee identityinformation of an enterprise, a user authentication system 120, and anemail management system (“EMS”) 122. The device, systems, and database105, 110, 115, 120, and 122 can transmit and receive data over acommunications network 125 such as the Internet and they include thenecessary hardware and software that supports communications over thenetwork.

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate part of the user interface of the emotionjournaling application. The discussion of FIGS. 2-6 may also involveFIG. 1 . The application is installed on the electronic device 1. FIG. 2depicts a login screen 210 of the application. An employee can enter hiscompany sign-in credentials from the login screen 210 through theelectronic device 205 and the entered information is transmitted overthe network 125 (FIG. 1 ) to the user authentication system 120 (FIG. 1) by the electronic device 205. The sign-in credentials includeinformation that identifies that the user is an employee of the company,such as an email address based on the company's email domain, employeeidentification number, or other employee identifiers. Upon receiving thecredentials, the authentication system checks if they (e.g., an emailaddress and password) match the credentials stored in the authenticationsystem (e.g., the email address and password pre-stored in theauthentication system). The credentials stored in the authenticationsystem, for example, may be created and stored in the authenticationsystem when the person joins the company and the human resourcesdepartment of the company creates an email address and password for thatperson through the company's computer system. The credentials stored inthe authentication system can be updated when the user changes hiscredentials (e.g., password). The authentication system is configured tostore sign-in credentials of the employees hired by the company.

If the entered credentials and the stored credentials match, the user isthen granted access to the emotion journaling application. Additionally,the authentication system generates an electronic authorization orsecurity token and sends it over the network to the electronic device.The emotion journaling application incorporates the token into all ofits communications with the electronic message processing system andemployee database. The token is required to communicate with thosesystems and database and is checked and verified by those systems anddatabase before the emotion journaling application can access thefunctionalities and data provided by those systems and database. Theemotion journaling application and the authentication system perform auser authentication process to allow the user to access the application,the electronic message processing system, and the employee database.

This authentication implementation is configured to use theauthorization token to enable access to services offered on theenterprise network of that company or by the enterprise employing thatuser to gain access to the services (e.g., to all other services or tojoin the enterprise network and have access to enterprise applicationssuch as the emotion journaling application and electronic messageprocessing software application). This process provides efficiency inthat the user, or the system implementing each enterprise application,does not require separate logins for each of the enterprise's softwareapplications on the user's mobile device to access correspondingservices. At the same time, this process also establishes highly secureinter-system relationships and connections, such as trusted connectionsusing communications and security protocol, based on identityauthentication and security tokens to ensure that unauthorizedindividuals or individuals outside the enterprise do not have access tothe enterprise applications. This security implementation provides asimplified authentication process or one single authentication processthat can simultaneously verify that the user is an employee of thecompany and allow the user to access all enterprise applications on theenterprise network. In contrast, conventional systems require a separateauthorization process for each procedure, such as an authenticationprocess for verifying whether the individual is an employee, a separateauthentication process for granting access to one of the enterpriseapplications after verifying that the individual is an employee, anotherseparate authentication process for granting access to another one ofthe enterprise applications after verifying that the individual is anemployee, and so forth.

The authentication system limits users of the emotion journalingapplication and access to the electronic message processing applicationand other services on the enterprise network to only employees orauthorized members of the company.

The above authentication processes and systems (and the anonymizationprocesses and systems discussed below), for example, can be thosedescribed in application No. 62/807,693, the entirety of which isincorporated by reference. Other processes, systems, and featuresdescribed in that application may also be adopted by or be used inconjunction with the electronic systems and methods for the assessmentof emotional state.

FIG. 3 a depicts an illustrative message creation screen 300 of theapplication. The message creation screen 300 provides an interface thatpresents or consists essentially of an option 305 to select one or moremessage recipients, an option 310 to select multiple emotions or emotiongraphical representations from a list containing different emotion names310 a and associated emotion representations 310 b, a text area 315 toenter writing using text entry, and an option 320 to send a message. Theinterface may have only or substantially only the text entry area (e.g.,freestyle text entry) and the two options to select message recipientsand emotion/emotion representations.

Option 305 to select one or more message recipients is configured toselect one or more employees of the enterprise. The electronic messageprocessing system (FIG. 1, 110 ) is configured to communicate with theemployee database (FIG. 1, 115 ) and obtain employee identityinformation from the employee database. Employee identity informationmay include names of employees and an identifier for each employee to beused by the processing system for making the message available to theappropriate person. For example, upon selecting “Michael” from option305, the processing system determines that “Michael” is associated withidentifier “0020” and presents the message to identifier “0020” so thatMichael can view the message. The identifier may be an internalidentifier used by the processing system and employee database toidentify an employee. This identifier may be referred to as a recipientidentifier. The emotion journaling application communicates with theprocessing system to obtain the employee identity information and makeemployees listed in the employee identity information available forselection through option 305. An update to the employee database alsoupdates the employee list in option 305 accordingly. In someembodiments, the emotion journaling application may be configured tocommunicate with the employee database to obtain the employee identityinformation or the employee list directly. Option 305 may only beconfigured to select employees of the enterprise and may not beintegrated with the user's personal contacts on his mobile device. Theemotion journaling application has a separate, different contact that isprovided by the processing system (or the employee database). FIG. 3 bdepicts an illustrative list of employees that can be selected.Employees on the list are also individuals who have access to theemotion journaling application. If the employee has not installed theapplication on an electronic device using his sign-in credentials, thenthe message sent to him is saved on the electronic message processingsystem and the employee can view it after he installs the application.In embodiments, the list may not show individuals who have not yetinstalled the application (only those who have the application installedare shown).

The list includes different human emotional states or emotion names(e.g., happy, sad, focused, stressed, and the like) and each isassociated with an emotion graphical or pictorial representation.Emotion graphical representations can be emojis, emoticons, or otherforms of facial expressions. Emojis are actual pictures showing a facialexpression (e.g., a small digital image or icon used to express anemotion), instead of typographics. Emoticons or typographics arepictorial representations of a facial expression using typographiccharacters, such as punctuation marks, numbers, and letters, to expressa person's feelings or mood (e.g., :-), :-(, -D, etc.). FIG. 3 c depictsan illustrative list 327 of emotions that can be selected. FIG. 3 c alsodepicts an option 328 to create additional emotion representations thatare not on list 327.

In the creation process as shown in FIG. 3 d , the emotion journalingapplication may provide an option to enter a name of the emotion, anoption to select an emotion type (e.g., positive or negative), and anoption to select one of the pre-created emotion representations oremojis. The created emotion representation is transmitted to theelectronic message processing system and the electronic messageprocessing system updates list 327 by adding the newly created emotionrepresentations into the list. The electronic message processing systemthen communicates the updated list to the emotion journaling applicationand other emotion journaling applications. The update is communicated tothe emotion journaling application and other emotion journalingapplications as soon as the user creates the emotion representation, orin real time. The new graphical representation then appears on the listand is available for selection by the user and other users duringmessage creation. In some embodiments, the new graphical representationis organized or displayed as one of the top level or core emotions(e.g., sadness, anger, happiness, etc.), as opposed to a lower level orsecondary emotion (e.g., an emotion under the sadness emotion, anemotion under the anger emotion, or an emotion under the happinessemotion, etc.). The user interface can be configured to require that theuser categorizes the new emotion under one of a set of core emotions. Insome embodiments, the emotions can be displayed and selected usingemotion names or text only, such as displaying the word “happy” andmaking the word “happy” selectable.

Option 310 is a dedicated option or field (separate from the text area315) where the user can select or enter his emotions. The selected orentered emotion graphical representations appear in this dedicated fieldonly and are not shown in the text area 315. Option 310 is afield thatallows emotion graphical representation selection only, i.e., it iswithout the option to receive text entry (other than in the new emotioncreation step, where the user can enter an emotion name).

The emotion journaling application is also configured such that multipleemotion graphical representations must be selected before the messagecan be sent to the recipient. Preferably, three emotion graphicalrepresentations or an odd number of emotion graphical representationsshould be selected. The emotion journaling application is alsoconfigured such that the same emotion name or emotion graphicalrepresentation can be selected more than once. The order in which theemotion graphical representations are selected is also recorded. In someembodiments, the odd number may also be one, although this is notpreferred. Each of the emotions or emotion graphical representations isfurther associated with a numeral value, in particular with either apositive value (e.g., +1) or an equivalent negative value (e.g., −1).The emotion graphical representations include a group of positiveemotion graphical representations 330 and a group of negative emotiongraphical representations 335. Each of the representations in thepositive group 330 is associated with a positive value, whereas each ofthe representations in the negative group 335 is associated with anequivalent negative value. Each of the representations in the positivegroup 330 may have a first color (e.g., green), while each of therepresentations in the negative group 335 may have a second colordifferent from the first color (e.g., red). The emotion journalingapplication can be configured to only display positive emotions in onecolor (or color theme), such as green, and all negative emotions in onecolor (or color theme), such as red. The numerical association incombination with the odd number selection returns a total value that isstrictly either positive or negative. The total value is calculated byadding all associated values of the selected emotion graphicalrepresentations (e.g., adding +1, −1, and +1 equals +1, adding +1, +1,and +1 equals +3, etc.). The calculation can be performed by theelectronic message processing system after the message is transmitted tothat system. For emotion representations created by the user, theselection of the emotion type assigns that representation acorresponding positive or negative value that can be used forcalculation.

The text area 315 is a field allowing the user to compose a message inhis own words. In particular, the text area 315 is a field where theuser writes to describe his emotions, feelings, moods, thoughts, and/orexplanation for the selected emotion graphical representations. The textarea 315 is an area where the user can write by typing on a QWERTYkeyboard of the electronic device. The user may also write in otherways, such as by speaking to or using gestures to convey his words tothe electronic device. The text area 315 is a field configured toreceive and display text only, i.e., without the option to displayemotion graphical representations

The send option 320 is configured to transmit a message (includingspecified emotions) upon selection only after the user completes allthree fields 305, 310, and 315 (e.g., selects at least one messagerecipient, at least three emojis, and enters a written message). If theuser completes only one or two of the three fields, then the send option320 is disabled and the user will not be able to send the message (andspecified emotions). The term “message” may refer to an electronicmessage with at least one message recipient selected, only an odd numberof emojis selected, and a written message in the text area. After theuser creates a message (e.g., with at least one message recipientselected, only an odd number of emojis selected, and a writing in thetext area), the user can select the send option 320 to send the message,which includes the selected emotion representations and the writtenmessage, to the recipient. The time the message is created (i.e., whenthe user selects the send option 320) is also recorded by the emotionjournaling application.

The message, which includes at least one message recipient selected,only an odd number of emojis selected, and a written message in the textarea, is transmitted to the electronic message processing system. Theelectronic message processing system processes the message and makes theselected emotion representations and the written message available tothe recipient for viewing. Only the selected recipients can view themessage in its entirety; none of the other users or employees using theemotion journaling application can access that message (e.g., thatmessage is available on the recipient's emotion journaling applicationonly). The recipient can only view the message (the selected emotionrepresentations and the written message) from the emotion journalingapplication installed on his mobile device, into which he needs to login(see login and authentication processes described above) if he is notalready logged in or has been logged out in order to use theapplication. The time information may also be transmitted to theelectronic message processing system so that the electronic messageprocessing system or the recipient's emotion journaling application canuse that information to arrange the messages in chronological order orother order based on time.

The user can create and send a message whenever he feels like and forwhatever reason he wants after he logs into the emotion journalingapplication. The ability to create and send a message is not restrictedby the emotion journaling application after the user is authenticated bythe authentication system. The gamification aspect of the applicationdoes not limit the user's ability to compose a message, because messagecreation is a basic function that is required to unlock access to otherservices and information in the application. The ability to create andsend a message is not tied to an event or condition, such as requiringan event to happen first and then conveying an opinion or emotion aboutthat event (or conveying an opinion or emotion while the event ishappening). The application is directed to communication betweenemployees and the discussion can be anything they wish to discuss. Theuser can create and send messages freely.

FIGS. 4 a-4 b depict illustrative message viewing screens 405, 410 ofthe emotion journaling application. The first or main message viewingscreen 405 shows a list of messages that the user or recipient hasreceived. The emotion journaling application provides an option 415 thatcan be selected to view the list 405. Each message 412 shown on the list405 may also display its corresponding emotion representations 420,emotion description 425, sender 430, message sent/creation date 435, andother message recipients 440 (the user can select multiple messagerecipients and those recipients other than the user are shown here). Theportion designated by 435 may also be referred to as the title of themessage. For example, the title 435 may have a format “Message—[date ofwhen the message was created].” Screen 410 and message 412 showillustrative actual messages seen by the user. The emotionrepresentations 420 are displayed in the order in which they wereselected. When a user logs into the emotion journaling application, theentered sign-in credentials (e.g., company email address or employer IDnumber used in the user name field) may be used, or the entered sign-incredentials may be associated with an identifier in the employeedatabase that is used by the electronic message processing system toidentify the user, so that the electronic message processing systemknows who the sender is when that user sends a message. This identifiermay be referred to as a user identifier or sender identifier.

The emotion journaling application also provides an option that can beselected to view each message 412 in detail. FIG. 4 b depicts a secondor detailed message viewing screen 410 after that option is selected.The emotion journaling application also provides an option 445 that canbe selected to view messages that the user has sent. Selecting option445 may display screens similar to screens 405, 410 except that theinformation in those screens are tailored to messages that have beensent by the user. The emotion journaling application also provides anoption 445 that can be selected to bring up the message creation screenshown in FIG. 4 c or FIG. 3 a.

The electronic device or device 1 in FIGS. 2A-2C, is preferably ahandheld mobile phone. The emotion journaling application is preferablya mobile application or mobile app configured to be installed on themobile phone. Therefore, composing and sending a message through themobile phone or mobile app is the preferred method of sending a message.This method makes it harder to go back and edit the message compared toother platforms such as email and promotes visceral thinking rather thananalytical thinking.

In response to the user sending the message, the system 100 for theassessment of emotional state also generates an email containing theselected emotions and emotion description and sends it to each selectedrecipient. The email is sent to the company email address of therecipient. The generation and transmission of email is facilitated bythe EMS 122. The EMS 122 is a conventional EMS that is known in the art.The recipient identifier is used to determine the corresponding emailaddress (they may be linked by the system 100). The recipient can thenview the email or an email version of the message through his companyemail account. The email may show the actual emojis selected or theemotion names. FIGS. 5 a-5 b show a message 505 created on the emotionjournaling application (with all three fields completed) and an emailversion 510 of the message generated in response to the user selecting“send” 515. The email 510 shows the selected emotions in text 520 (orwith their emotion names), rather than the actual emojis 525. The senderand recipients can communicate over email regarding that message inaddition to using the emotion journaling application.

The emotion journaling application provides an option 450 (FIG. 5 ) thatcan be selected to view historical information in a graphical form thathelps provide a sense of the individual, group, or company-wideemotional state over time. FIG. 6 a depicts an illustrative historicalemotional state information screen 600 showing an emotional state graph605 and other information 610, 615 (615 a and 615 b), and 620. FIG. 6 ais also a depiction of the historical information about the user's inputinto the emotion journaling application.

Emotions selected by the user (including the emotion name, graphicalrepresentation, and numerical value) are stored and tracked by theelectronic message processing system. These storing and trackingprocesses may occur when the electronic message processing systemreceives the message from the emotion journaling application. Recipientsselected and the user's written messages may also be stored and trackedby the electronic messaging processing system. In some embodiments, withrespect to the selected emotions, the electronic message processingsystem may store and track only the numerical value of the selectedemotions. The emotion name and graphical representation may be ignoredby the electronic message processing system. The electronic messageprocessing system is configured to track the numerical values, such asthe sum of those values on a daily basis and over a period of time, andthe emotion journaling application is configured to present the trackednumerical values, such as in a graphical form, to help provide a senseof the individual, group, or company-wide emotional state over time. Thetime when the message is sent is used to build the graphicalrepresentation. Diagram 605 is such a graph. The tracked numericalvalues are helpful to understand whether the user's emotional state hasbeen positive or negative or the trend of his emotional state. A largerpositive sum may indicate that the user's emotional state is morepositive (e.g., optimistic, hopeful, confident, happy, and the like)whereas a larger negative sum may indicate that the user's emotionalstate is more negative (e.g., pessimistic, hopeless, fearful, unhappy,and the like).

The electronic message processing system can also be configured to trackthe ratio between the number of positive emotions and the number ofnegative emotions that the user has entered. The emotion journalingapplication is also configured to present this information in agraphical form. For example, diagram 610 shows that 65% of the user'sselected emotions are negative emotions and 35% of the user's electedemotions are positive emotions. The electronic message processing systemand the emotion journaling application can also track and display asimilar ratio based on emotion selections aggregated from employees inthe same department as the user and a similar ratio based on emotionselections aggregated from everyone in the company.

The electronic message processing system can also be configured to trackthe number of messages that the user has been given in a time period 615a, store a default number indicating the number of different messages(e.g., with different written content and/or emotion selections) thatthe user should be given in a time period 615 b, and track the number ofmisses if the user fails to send at least the specified number ofmessages 615 b. All that information can be communicated by the emotionjournaling application to the user. For example, the screen 600 showsthat the user has written five messages in the past 30 days. The screen600 also shows that the default number is two in a one-week period. Ifthe user submits fewer than two messages per week, then thatincompletion may count as a miss. Adhering to a schedule requiring theuser to send a threshold number (e.g., two) of messages in a time period(e.g., a week) can help the user build up a habit of conveying hisemotion regularly. The emotion journaling application or the processingsystem is configured to build that habit by way of interaction with theuser, such as those illustratively described herein. Information 615 bshows that the user has three misses, which may mean that the userfailed to submit at least two messages a week for three consecutive ornonconsecutive weeks.

The emotion journaling application provides an option 620 to present theemotion trend 605, emotion ratio 610, and emotion stats 615 overdifferent time periods, such as 30, 60, or 90 days, and the informationor graph in the emotion trend 605, emotion ratio 610, and emotion stats615 will be updated accordingly based on the selection. The screen 600shows that all the displayed information is based on the past 30 days.

The user can view the historical information about his input into theemotion journaling application, but the application may be configured tocondition such access on the user having created and sent a certainnumber of messages during a set time period. For example, before theuser can view the screen 600 with the emotion trend 605, emotion ratio610, and emotion stats 615 information for the first time, theapplication may require the user to create and send at least threemessages. After that, the user may be granted access to the informationin the screen 600 over a 30-day period. As time progresses, access tothe same information over a 60-day period may require the user to createand send three additional messages after the 30-day period. This systemof unlocking the screen 600 and subsequent information is provided as agamitication feature that helps encourage employee participation andengagement with the emotion journaling application, or encouragesemployees to convey their emotions and engage in such behavior in aconsistent manner. This system may also be used to unlock access toother information in the application.

FIG. 6 b depicts an illustrative screen of the emotion journalingapplication showing other information that can be stored and tracked bythe electronic message processing system. For example, the electronicmessage processing system and the emotion journaling application cantrack who in the group has not yet sent the specified number of messagesrequired in the time period and can convey that information to the useror group leader (625). A supervisor or administrator version of theemotion journaling application may be provided and configured to offersuch functionality.

For another example, as shown in FIG. 7 , the electronic messageprocessing system can track company-wide employee participation 605(referring to employee participation in using the emotion journalingapplication), company-wide emotion trend 710, and department-wide orcompany-wide aggregated emotion selections 715, all of which can bepresented by the emotion journaling application such as in the screen600. FIG. 7 is also a depiction of the historical/aggregated informationabout all employees' input into the emotion journaling application.

All that information may be made available to the supervisor version ofthe emotion journaling application so that only the group leader orother higher ranked company officials can view such information. Thesupervisor version of the emotion journaling application may includeaccess to company-wide and/or department-wide information, in additionto the user's information. In some embodiments, this version ofapplication may also view each emotional input and its senderinformation, even if the user or leader of this version was not selectedas a recipient by the sender. From diagrams such as 705 and 719, thesupervisor can see when teams' emotion or sentiment is changing, e.g.,going up, going down, or staying the same.

The employee version or non-supervisor version of the emotion journalingapplication may be one that has access to the user's information only(no access to company-wide information, except emotion ratio information605).

The historical or aggregated information, whether it is the informationof the individual, the group, or the company, is based on emotionselections or only emotion selections made through the emotionjournaling application. The written content (the written message in thetext area), recipient information (or recipient identities), senderinformation (or sender identifier) are saved on the electronic messageprocessing system but are not used in producing such information. Thewritten content, recipient information, and sender information areincluded and used when the user sends the message to the recipient andin generating and sending the email. The historical or aggregatedinformation is also produced in real time in the emotion journalingapplication as employee input is received. Aggregation can be performedon an individual level, group level, or company-wide level.

The emotion journaling application is also configured to send remindersor notifications, whether in the emotion journaling application orthrough email. In some embodiments, the notifications are generatedbased on the default number of messages that the user should create andsend in a set time period, and the number of messages that the user hascreated and sent before the time period expires. When the number ofmessages that the user has created and sent before the time periodexpires is less than the default number (e.g., two), a reminder is sent.The reminders are sent before the time period expires. The notificationsare used to inform the user that he has not created and sent enoughmessages to peers in that time period. The notifications may be providedby the emotion journaling application such as through push notification,a pop-up window, sound, or vibration, or by the system or EMS sending anemail with the reminder.

In one embodiment, the processing system is configured to send alertsand determine whether the user is following a certain procedure andrules, such as entering at least two messages per week. When theprocessing system determines that the user is not compliant, it canprevent or restrict the user's rights or access to the emotionjournaling application or other resources such as apps or systemssupported on the enterprise network. For example, the user will beblocked from viewing content in the emotion journaling application(e.g., FIGS. 6A-6B) of the user or some other apps or systems if thetwo-message per week requirement has not been satisfied. In thisprocess, the emotion journaling application may send a message orcommand to another system within the enterprise, and/or to specificindividuals such as the user's supervisor or coach alerting or notifyingthem of noncompliance.

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative implementation of the electronic messageprocessing system 800 in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. The processing system 800 is configured to store severalelectronic tables or data structures and to operate based on theelectronic tables or data structures. In one embodiment, the processingsystem 800 includes a post-data structure 805 configured to communicateinformation in the message created through the emotion journalingapplication, an emotion icon data structure 810 configured tocommunicate emotion icon-related information, a post and emotion iconmapping data structure 815, and a post-access data structure 820.

The post-data structure 805 includes a post identifier that identifiesthe data structure or table 805 (uuid), a sender identifier thatidentifies the message sender (fk_account_uuid), title information(title), post information (post) that may include recipient selectioninformation, emotion selection information, and text area contentinformation (referring to the written content in the text area), anddate information (created_at, updated_at, deleted_at). The titleinformation refers to the title shown in 435 of FIG. 4A, which may beconfigured to a format of “Message —[Date of when the message wascreated].” The emotion selection information may include an instructionor an identifier identifying the emotion graphical representation (afterthe user makes the selection).

The processing system 800 may convert a message received from theemotion journaling application into a post-data structure 805 beforefurther operation by the processing system 800. In some embodiments, theemotion journaling application may convert a message into a post-datastructure 805 and then transmit that data structure to the processingsystem 800. In either situation, element 805 may also represent adatabase or storage device where all the messages or their datastructures are stored. While FIG. 8 only shows one post-data structure805, it is understood that the processing system 800 includes manypost-data structures 805 or one database 805 storing many such post-datastructures, as there are many employees in the company and each employeecan send numerous messages to several recipients. The post identifier isa unique identifier that identifies a particular message or the datastructure of that message. The post identifier may be generated by theprocessing system 800 or the emotion journaling application. In someembodiments, post data structure 805 or conversion to post datastructure 805 may be necessary before the processing system 800 canperform other functions (e.g., before data structures 815 and 820 canretrieve relevant data from a message). Post-data structure 805 or themessage before conversion includes the security token mentioned earlierin the application so that the processing system 800 can verify that thedata structure or message is legitimate and should be processed, or makeit accessible by data structures 815 and 820. If there is no securitytoken, then the data structure or message is rejected by the processingsystem 800.

The emotion icon data structure 810 includes an emotion icon identifierthat identifies the data structure or table 810 (uuid), a typeidentifier that identifies whether an emotion icon is positive ornegative (type), the name of an emotion icon (name), informationidentifying who created the emotion icon if applicable (created_by),emotion icon location information (image_url), and date information(created_at, updated_at, deleted_at). Emotion icon location informationmay have information indicating where an emotion icon is stored, such aswhere it is stored in the processing system 800 or where it is storedoutside the processing system 800 if the processing system accesses adatabase storing emotion icons outside the processing system 800. Insome embodiments, emotion icon data structure 810 or conversion toemotion icon data structure 810 may be necessary before the processingsystem 800 can perform other functions (e.g., before data structures 815and 820 can retrieve relevant data from a message), if the emotion iconsare obtained from a component outside the processing system 800. WhileFIG. 8 only shows one emotion icon data structure 810, it is understoodthat the processing system 800 includes many emotion data structures 810or one database 810 storing many such emotion icon data structures,because the emotion journaling application provides many differentemotion graphical representations for selection. In some embodiments,the type identifier may also include the positive numerical value ornegative numerical value. The database 810 may also store all theemotion names and emotion graphical representations that are on the list327 (FIG. 3 c ).

Emotion graphical representations are stored on a database of theprocessing system such as the table 810, and the emotion graphicalrepresentation identifier (from the post information of the datastructure 805) allows the processing system to access or call aparticular emotion graphical representation in the table 810 for displayto the recipients. The data structure 815 can access the data structure805 through the post identifier (fk_post_uuid) and the data structure810 through the emotion icon identifier fk_emotion_uuid). Though thataccess, the mapping data structure 815 can map data in the datastructure 805 with data in the data structure 810. This way, only oneset of emotion graphical representations needs to be stored on theprocessing system 800 and the processing system 800 can make theselected emotion graphical representation available to the recipients bydirecting the selected emotion graphical representation to therecipients using the identifier (e.g., without actually transmitting theemoji image to the recipient).

The post and emotion icon mapping data structure 815 includes a mappingidentifier that identifies the data structure or table 815 (uuid), apost identifier that identifies a particular data structure or messagein the database 805 (fk_post_uuid), an emotion icon identifier thatidentifies a particular emotion graphical representation in the database810 (fk_emotion_uuid), priority information that identifies the sequencein which emotion graphical representations are selected, which may beobtained from the post information (post) in the data structure 805, anddate information. The data structure 815 can access the data structure805 through the post identifier (fk_post_uuid) and the data structure810 through the emotion icon identifier fk_emotion_uuid).

Upon receiving a message from the emotion journaling application or thecorresponding data structure 805, the processing system 800 maps themessage or data structure 805 to the database 810 (or vice versa) anddetermines the emotion graphical representations selected in the messageand their emotion names. The processing system 800 performs thisoperation for every received message. The processing system 800 thencategorizes all the emotion graphical representations based on theemotion names, aggregates all the emotion graphical representations thathave the same emotion name, and determines a percentage for each emotionname based on the ratio between the number of graphical representationsin that emotion name and the total number of all the graphicalrepresentations in all the emotion names. The pie diagram in FIG. 7illustrates the result produced by this operation. The other twodiagrams in FIG. 7 based on time may be produced by using the dateinformation in the data structure 805 (created_at). In any of thediagrams in FIG. 7 , the post information in the data structure 805 isremoved or is otherwise made unavailable so that only the emotioninformation is shown. Also, in all of the diagrams in FIG. 7 , thesender information is made unavailable (not shown in FIG. 7 ). Theprocessing system 800 may have similar aggregate information frommessages and produce other data results shown in the other diagrams inFIG. 7 and FIG. 6 (610 and 605).

The post-access data structure 820 includes a message access identifierthat identifies the data structure or table 820 (uuid), a postidentifier that identifies a particular data structure or message in thedatabase 805 (fk_post_uuid), a recipient identifier that identifies themessage recipient (fk_account_uuid) which is obtained from the datastructure 805, and date information. Although the same “fk_account_uuid”is used in both data structures 805 and 820, “fk_account_uuid” in eachdata structure actually refers to different individuals.

Upon receiving a message from the emotion journaling application or thecorresponding data structure 805, the processing system 800 uses thedata structure 820 to make the message available to the selectedrecipients. The selected recipients are identified by the“fk_account_uuid” in the data structure 820. The message made availableto the selected recipients is identified by “fk_pos_tuuid” in the datastructure 820. Through the “fk_post_uuid” in the data structure 820, theselected recipients can see who sent the message, the title of themessage, the post information (including the emotion graphicalrepresentations mapped or determined through the data structure 815),and the message sent/creation date. The processing system 800 isconfigured to allow only the selected recipients access the datastructure 820 or the message provided via the data structure 820. Otherindividuals in the company do not have access to the data structure 820or the message provided by that data structure.

It may be possible to secure the text entry data such that it is onlyaccessible by way of emergency involving the use of a security code byone or more senior-level personnel (e.g., supervisor, manager, CEO,etc.)

Date information in each data structure 805, 810, 815, and 820 mayinclude creation date information, update date information, and deletiondate information. Creation date information includes informationindicating when the message or data structure is created. Update dateinformation includes information indicating when the message or datastructure is updated or modified. The emotion journaling application andthe processing system may be configured such that the message sender cango back and edit the message he already sent (e.g., changing previouslyselected emotion graphical representations, editing previously writtencontent) and the administrator or technician operating the processingsystem 800 can change certain information in data structures 815, 820.Deletion date information includes information indicating when themessage or data structure is “deleted” because the user has left thecompany (e.g., the employee resigns, retires, or is terminated).Deletion in this context means that the message or data structure ismade unavailable to the selected recipients, that the message or datastructure is still available to the selected recipients but theiremotion selections are not considered in the group-wide or company-wideaggregation data, or that the message or data structure is madeunavailable to the selected recipients and the emotion selections arenot considered in the group-wide or company-wide aggregation data. Theprocessing system 800 may achieve “deletion” by moving the messages ordata structures of the former employee to a separate location that isnot accessible by the data structures 815, 820. Deletion date mayindicate the time on which those the messages or data structures are putinto that location.

The processing system 800 is understood to include a post and emotionicon mapping subsystem (815, or a combination that includes 805, 815,and 810) and a post-access subsystem (e.g., 820, or a combination thatincludes 805 and 820).

The processing system is configured to separate emotion information fromtext content and in response to the emotion information, the processingsystem aggregates the emotion information for an employee or a group ofemployees (e.g., under a supervisor) and sends that aggregated report tothe supervisor. This way the user can understand the “pulse” of thegroup from the aggregated report and anonymize data. Personal thoughtswritten by the user are secured by the electronic message processingapplication (stored in a database of the electronic message processingapplication) to be visible only to the sender and his selectedrecipients.

The system for the assessment of emotional state is configured to makethe user send each message to at least one other person as a conditionfor using the emotion journaling application or having access to otherapps, systems, databases, or resources.

The emotion journaling application is configured to allow the user toselect different message recipients every time. For example, the usermay select individuals A, 13, and C as message recipients for thecurrent message. Next time when the user composes another message, theuser can select individuals D, E, and F or B, C, and D as messagerecipients for this message.

In the display screen, a region (of the mobile app or the emotionjournaling app) of the screen is configured for the selection ofemotions (e.g., dedicated solely to emotion selection) and, for example,this is positioned in a specific area distinct from the text entry area.For instance, as shown in FIG. 3 a , it is positioned directly above thetext entry area.

A trusted anonymous feature is implemented. The system is configured towork on the individual's personal smartphone and allows them to log into the emotion journaling application from their smartphone based on thesystem verifying and authenticating them to be an employee at theenterprise. This then provides a security token authorizing the user touse the emotion journaling application on their smartphone. Thecommunications for logging in and subsequent application use areconfigured to use the existing smartphone and available networkcapabilities, such as communicating over a public network such as theInternet (e.g., as opposed to limiting communications within the privatenetwork of the enterprise). The ability to create a trusted environmentfor the user is one of the features provided by embodiments of thepresent invention. Through this feature, the user knows that hiscommunications are secure and individuals on the system or have accessto the system are not random people from the public. An example ofauthorization process and system for establishing a trusted environmentis illustratively described in the attached application.

The emotion journaling application uses the local resources of theelectronic device such as a smartphone to generate an interactivegraphical user interface such as the illustrations described here (e.g.,screen 300).

When an email message is automatically generated by the system for theassessment of emotional state comprising the message created by theemotion journaling application or substantially all such content, themessage is automatically sent to selected recipients to their emailaddress. The recipient can respond via email to the sender, whoseaddress is specified to be the sender by the system for the assessmentof emotional state. The parties can engage in an email dialogue externalto the emotion journaling application and supporting system.

The separate data structures allow the system to apply differentsecurity settings to the different data, such as by separating namedemotions from the text entry.

The system for the assessment of emotional state is distinct fromemployee evaluation systems, feedback systems, and other HR systems ofthe enterprise. The system for the assessment of emotional state ispreferably a standalone system directed to provide functions describedin this application. The system for the assessment of emotional state ispreferably an additional system that the user can access from its owndedicated icon or link and does not incorporate or include employeereview features or feedback features.

The individual may have a trusted group or a partner that is his workcoach or confidant, and the system for the assessment of emotional stateis configured to allow the individual to send his thoughts to thatperson via the emotion journaling application, but the processing systemfurther uses and aggregates the names, emotions and related information(but not the text content) and makes that available or sends it toothers, such as authorized managers or supervisors, to view group,company, and/or divisional level emotional state currently and overtime.

The emotion journaling software application may also be a coachingsoftware application. The coaching software application providesemployee with a platform for “mental workout.” Employees can getmentally fit by practicing, defining, describing, and exploring theiremotions, good and bad. The coaching software application allows theuser to share his thoughts and emotion with the people he trusts, suchas coaches, peers, and colleagues. By sharing, it allows the coaches tounderstand the truth and mood of the individual and provide the rightadvice and suggestions. The coaching software application provides asecure and trusted environment, both considered objectively andsubjectively by users and the system, as implemented, also providesimmediacy (objectively and subjectively) such as the sender's message isimmediately available and viewable (and the recipient is immediatelynotified using app notification).

A cloud computing platform such as Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) may beused as part of the system for the assessment of emotional state. Theuser authentication system, the electronic message processing system,and/or some operations of the emotion journaling application may beimplemented on such a platform. For example, emotion journalingapplications may transmit messages to the electronic message processingsystem implemented on the AWS, and that AWS system may make messages andaggregated information available to the recipients and emotionjournaling applications. In some embodiments, the electronic messageprocessing system is a server-implemented system (e.g., cloud-basedsystem) that functions to provide the features and services inconjunction with an emotion journaling application. Variations are alsocontemplated.

The user authentication system and the electronic message processingsystem include a user authentication software application or service andan electronic message processing software application or service,respectively, that configure the corresponding system to operate in themanners described above.

The electronic device may be a desktop computer, laptop computer, atablet computer, a cellular device, a mobile device, a smartphone, apersonal digital assistant (“PDA”), or other computer system having amicroprocessor and memory. The electronic device is preferably a mobilesmartphone that is handheld and capable of downloading and installingmobile applications that can communicate through the mobile phone withservers via mobile networks or other wireless networks. The electronicmessage processing system and the user authentication system, in someembodiments, are server-implemented systems (e.g., a cloud-based system)that functions to provide the features and services in conjunction withthe electronic device or emotion recording application. Each of theelectronic devices, systems, and servers is a computer system thatincludes a microprocessor and volatile and non-volatile memory toconfigure the computer system (using a software application such as oneor more described herein). The computer system also includes a networkconnection interface that allows the computer system to communicate withanother computer system over a network. The computer system furtherincludes non-transitory storage devices such as a hard-drive, solidstate drive, flash memory, permanent memory such as ROM, magnetic,optical, semiconductor, or any other suitable type of storage component,or any combination thereof that are configured to store data.

A server may have larger memory and larger storage capacity than thoseof an electronic device and has the capability of sustaining concurrentdata communications with multiple end users or client devices. Anelectronic device may be a client device. In FIG. 1 , the electronicdevice 105 may be a client device and the electronic message processingsystem 110 and user authentication system 115 may be implemented on aserver (on the same server or separate servers). The employee database120 may be implemented on electronic non-transitory storage devices suchas those described above. The employee database 120 may also be anexisting database in the enterprise or that is on the enterprise'sinternal network.

The communications network can include the internet, a cellular network,a telephone network, a computer network, a packet switching network, aline switching network, a global area network, a local area network(“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), any number of private networkscurrently referred to as intranets, and/or any other network orcombination of networks that can accommodate data communication. Suchnetworks may be implemented with any number of hardware and softwarecomponents, transmission media, and network protocols. Although FIG. 1represents the network as a single network, the network can includemultiple interconnected networks listed above.

In some embodiments, the electronic device on which the emotionrecording application is implemented is connected to the electronicmessage processing system, user authentication system, and the databasethrough WiFi, cellular network, and/or the internet to providefunctionality and work with their supporting servers and storagedevices. The electronic device does not, for example, use the company'slocal enterprise network (e.g., intranet) to communicate with theelectronic message processing system, user authentication system, andthe database or their supporting servers.

Data structure refers to computer data structure that allows computersystems, server, and electronic devices to access relevant data andoperate based on accessed data. Data structure also refers to computerdata structure configured to storing data in a particular manner orstoring certain types of data.

It is understood from the above description that the functionality andfeatures of the systems, devices, or methods of embodiments of thepresent invention include generating and sending signals to accomplishthe actions.

It should be understood that variations, clarifications, ormodifications are contemplated. Applications of the technology to otherfields are also contemplated.

Exemplary systems, devices, and methods are described for illustrativepurposes. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readilybe apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art, it is not desiredto limit the invention to the exact constructions as demonstrated inthis disclosure. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay fall within the scope of the invention.

Thus, for example, any sequence and/or temporal order of steps ofvarious processes or methods (or sequence of device connections oroperation) that are described herein are illustrative and should not beinterpreted as being restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understoodthat although the steps of various processes, methods, connections, orsequence of operations may be shown and described as being in a sequenceor temporal order, they are not necessarily limited to being carried outin any particular sequence or order. For example, the steps in suchprocesses or methods generally may be carried out in various differentsequences and orders, while still falling within the scope of thepresent invention. Moreover, in some discussions, it would be evident tothose of ordinary skill in the art that a subsequent action, process, orfeature is in response to an earlier action, process, or feature.

It is also implicit and understood that the applications or systemsillustratively described herein provide computer-implementedfunctionality that automatically performs a process or process stepsunless the description explicitly describes user intervention or manualoperation.

It should be understood that claims that include fewer limitations,broader claims, such as claims that do not require a certain feature orprocess step in the appended claim or in the specification,clarifications to the claim elements, different combinations,alternative implementations based on the specification, and differentuses are also contemplated by the embodiments of the present invention.

It should be understood that combinations of described features or stepsare contemplated even if they are not directly described together or notin the same context.

The terms or words that are used herein are directed to those ofordinary skill in the art in this field of technology and the meaning ofthose terms or words will be understood from terminology used in thatfield or can be reasonably interpreted based on the plain Englishmeaning of the words in conjunction with knowledge in this field oftechnology. This includes an understanding of implicit features that forexample may involve multiple possibilities, but to a person of ordinaryskill in the art a reasonable or primary understanding or meaning isunderstood.

Software applications can be implemented as distinct modules or can beintegrated together into an overall application such as one thatincludes the user interface and that handles other features forproviding functionality to the user on his device.

It is intended that the specification and examples be considered asexemplary only, with a true scope being indicated by the claims andtheir equivalents.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A system for assessment of emotional statecomprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium storing an emotionjournaling application that causes a computer device to execute amethod, the method comprising: communicating with a database storing alist of names that part of an enterprise and obtain the list of names;providing a user interface configured to allow creation of an electronicmessage, wherein the user interface is configured to: allow selection ofa message recipient from the list of employee names; provide a list ofemotion graphical representations; allow selection of one or moreemotion graphical representations or an odd number of emotion graphicalrepresentations greater than three from the list of emotion graphicalrepresentations; provide a text area allowing a user of the computerdevice to input an entry in his or her own words; make an electronicmessage transmittable to an electronic message processing system or theselected recipient when at least one message recipient has beenselected, one or more emotion graphical representations have beenselected, and a text entry has been inputted; and make an electronicmessage available to the selected recipient, wherein the selectedrecipient can access the electronic message through an emotionjournaling application on his or her computer device mobile device; anelectronic message processing system configured to receive messagescreated through the user interface and messages created through the userinterfaces of the computer devices with the emotion journalingapplication, the electronic message processing system comprising: a postdata structure configured to convey information in the created message;an emotion icon data structure configured to convey emotion icon-relatedinformation; a post and emotion mapping data structure configured toconvey emotional state information based information in the post-datastructure and information in the emotion-icon data structure, whereinthe emotional state information is communicated to the computer deviceand used by the emotion journaling application to present individual,group-wide, or company-wide emotional state information over a period oftime; and a post-access data structure configured to make the electronicmessage available to the elected recipients based on information in thepost-data structure, wherein the post-access data structure is used byrecipient's emotion journaling application to make the electronicmessage available to the selected recipient.
 9. a non-transitorycomputer readable medium storing an emotion journaling application thatcauses a computer system including a mobile device to execute a method,the method comprising: providing a user interface configured to allowcreation of an electronic message, wherein the providing comprising:allowing selection of a message recipient from a list of individualnames of an enterprise; providing a list of emotion graphicalrepresentations; allowing selection of one or more emotion graphicalrepresentations; providing a text area allowing user of the mobiledevice input an entry in his own words; making an electronic messagetransmittable to an electronic message processing system or the selectedrecipient when at least one message recipient has been selected, threeor more emotion graphical representations have been selected, and a textentry has been inputted; and making an electronic message available tothe selected recipient, wherein the selected recipient can access theelectronic message through an emotion journaling application on hismobile device; and presenting individual, group-wide, or company-wideemotional state information over a period of time that includes thethree selections of emotion graphical representations in the messages.10. The non-transitory computer medium of claim 9, wherein the methodfurther comprising: providing an electronic message processing systemconfigured to receive messages created through the user interface,wherein the providing comprising: implementing a post and emotionmapping data structure configured to convey emotional state informationbased on information in a database storing electronic messages createdthrough the user interface and information in a database storing emotionicons, wherein the emotional state information is communicated to themobile device and used to present individual, group-wide, orcompany-wide emotional state information over a period of time; andimplementing a post access data structure configured to make theelectronic message available to the selected recipients based oninformation in the database storing electronic messages created throughthe user interface, wherein the post access data structure is used byrecipient's emotion journaling application to make the electronicmessage available to the selected recipient.
 11. The system of claim 8,wherein the emotion graphical representations include a group ofpositive emotion graphical representations and a group of negativeemotion graphical representations, wherein each representation in thepositive group is associated with a positive numerical value and eachrepresentation in the negative group is associated with an equivalentnegative numerical value.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the emotiongraphical representations include a group of positive emotion graphicalrepresentations and a group of negative emotion graphicalrepresentations, wherein each representation in the positive group isassociated with a positive numerical value and each representation inthe negative group is associated with an equivalent negative numericalvalue.
 13. A computer-implemented method comprising: communicating witha database storing a list of individual names that are part ofenterprise and obtain the list of names; providing a user interfaceconfigured to allow creation of an electronic message, wherein the userinterface is configured to: allow selection of a message recipient fromthe list of names; provide a list of emotion graphical representations;allow selection of one or more emotion graphical representations or anodd number of emotion graphical representations greater than three fromthe list of emotion graphical representations; provide a text areaallowing a user of the mobile device to input an entry in his own words;make an electronic message transmittable to an electronic messageprocessing system or the selected recipient when at least one messagerecipient has been selected, one or more of the emotion graphicalrepresentations have been selected, and a text entry has been inputted;make an electronic message available to the selected recipient, whereinthe selected recipient can access the electronic message through anemotion journaling application on his mobile device; and presentindividual, group-wide, or company-wide emotional state information overa period of time based on messages created through the user interfaceand messages created through user interfaces of the other mobile deviceswith the emotion journaling application; communicating with orestablishing a system including: a post data structure configured toconvey information in the created message; an emotion icon datastructure configured to convey emotion icon-related information; a postand emotion mapping data structure configured to convey emotional stateinformation based information in the post-data structure and informationin the emotion-icon data structure, wherein the emotional stateinformation is communicated to the mobile device and used by the emotionjournaling application to present individual, group-wide, andcompany-wide emotional state information over a period of time; and apost-access data structure configured to make the electronic messageavailable to the selected recipients based on information in thepost-data structure, wherein the post-access data structure is used byrecipient's emotion journaling application to make the electronicmessage available to the selected recipient.